3.09 Kafkaesque

Summary and Spoilers

An ad for Los Pollos Hermanos focuses on the long tradition of making tender, tasty spicy chicken the old fashioned way. This segues seamlessly from chicken nuggets to nuggets of blue meth. Walt and Jesse must be working hard to make their quota: box after box of meth is sealed and carted away. The assembly line continues, with workers packing the meth into bags, and then hiding the bags deep inside sealed buckets of Los Pollos Hermanos Fry Batter. Thusly are the various franchises used as distribution centers.

Jesse should be happy with his half share of the 3 million, but he has done some quick math and calculated that Gus will make about 96 million from sales of the 3 months of meth they create. He tries to plead his case with Walt, but Walt just says he should be happy with being a millionaire. Walt doesn’t even have the energy or inclination to try to convince Jesse otherwise, by using arguments about how protected they are and how much risk Gus is assuming, or that Gus has other costs for infrastructure, equipment, and distribution.

Marie fusses over Hank. When Gomez pops in and meekly asks to visit, Marie says yes. Gomez tries to cheer Hank up by telling him that the blue meth is popping up all over the place. Walt, who is hanging in the room, perks up when he hears this news. Hank then shares the fact that someone with a voice scrambler warned him about the attack. Now Walt and Skyler perk up, and Skyler throws a few killer looks at Walt. Outside in the car, Skyler wants to know if they are safe and if he is safe. Walt says yes to both questions in his usual confident way.

Jesse daydreams in group therapy until he is prompted to share. He gives a bland lie about working in a laundromat, although the work situation he vaguely describes sound like the Walt-run meth lab. He agrees with the group leader that it all sounds Kafkaesque.

Hank is getting some feeling back in his legs. Marie’s high hopes are dashed when she finds out the care physiotherapy care he will receive will be limited by what is covered under their health plan. She knows that the more care he receives, the faster it starts, and the better the physiotherapist, the more chance he will walk again. She vows to give him what he needs and go outside the plan, which means hundreds and thousands of dollars of out of pocket costs. Of course, there is one obvious person who comes to mind who should pay for all this: Jesse. Just kidding; it’s Walt. Or maybe Gus: what more magnanimous gesture could Gus make than to pay for Hank’s specialized care? He orders him killed, then gets brownie points in the community for helping him.

There’s a segway to a foot being massaged. You might assume this is Hank, but it’s Saul, waiting for a meeting with Jesse. Saul’s news is that the nail salon they are in is now owned by Jesse and is to be used for laundering money. There’s no doubt that Saul knows what he’s talking about, what with layering, placement, etc., but his attempt to close the deal falters when he admits that he will take 17 percent of the laundered money for himself, whereas with Walt he only takes 5 percent.

Walt meets with Gus to ‘clear the air’. Somehow, Walt has guessed that the assassins were meant for him but were steered toward Hank. Walt is there to express his thanks to Gus for saving his life, but also to extend their deal. Gus quickly and quietly agrees to pay Walt 15 million a year, indefinitely. All is well, or is it? As Walt drives away, he floors the car and closes his eyes. He awakens just in time to avoid an oncoming tractor trailer.

Back in therapy, Jesse is asked if he had the chance to do anything he wanted, other than make more money (his first answer), what would he do. He said he would make something, work with his hands, do woodworking. He tells a story about woodworking class in high school, where he quickly built a box for a teacher named Mr. Pike, so he could cut class. But when Mr. Pike said, "Is that the best you can do?", Jesse is inspired to do better. He started again, making elaborate boxes. By the fifth box, he used Peruvian walnut with inlays. Although at first he said he gave the box to his mom, he actually traded it for an ounce of weed.

Back at Skyler’s house, Skyler tries to convince Marie to have a bath and relax while Hank gets through a heavily drugged night of sleep. Ted shows up to find out why Skyler hasn’t been returning his calls. It’s obvious that he loves her, but Skyler doesn’t love him. What’s more, she wants to make sure that Marie does not find out about their trysts. She basically boots him out, even as he is putting more pressure on her to explain why he is not welcome.

Jesse has drinks with Skinny Pete and Badger, and complains about how regimented and responsible his current cooking situation is. He longs for the days when he could cook whenever and wherever is his now crushed RV. He needs to be more of an outlaw and wants to move some meth himself, but his plan does not involve cooking – it involves skimming some meth out of the lab by lying about weights. Cut to Jesse feeding Walt incorrect bin weights so he can skim some meth with (supposedly) no one noticing. And then there are two new people in Jesse’s therapy circle – Badger and Pete – acting like they are trying to quit blue meth, but in reality talking it up as an advertisement to all those struggling addicts.

Marie is passionate about going to the press to tell the story of Hank’s battles with health care. Skyler offers to pay their bills with the money Walt has earned – from gambling. She’s made up an elaborate story about Walt’s system for counting cards in blackjack. Marie falls for the story completely – who wouldn’t? Even Walt is starting to believe it. Walt says they have seven figures of cash, and it is offered to Marie and Hank. Marie accepts, but has to promise not to tell Hank where it came from or how it was acquired.

If Walt thought this lie from Skyler was the beginning of a mending of their relationship, he was very wrong. Skyler also suspects that Hank is there because of Walt.

Memorable Moments

When Skyler is fibbing to Marie how Walt earned thousands of dollars counting cards in blackjack, when she gets to an important part of the story, both Marie and Walt lean forward in interest (since neither knows what she will say next).

Breaking Bad Quotes

"Hey! What’s more important than money!"
- Jesse to Walt

"C’mere. Closer….asshole."
- Hank to Gomez

Skyler: Are we safe?
Walt: Yes.
Skyler: Are you safe?
Walt: Absolutely.

"What’s the point of being an outlaw when you’ve got responsibilities?"
- Jesse

Skyler: Walt – we could always pay their bills.
Marie: Please, it’s tens of thousands of dollars.
Skyler: We have the money. More than enough. Walt earned it.
Walt: Skyler -
Skyler: I think Marie should know the truth.
Walt: Skyler, I – I really don’t think this is a good idea. I – I think that –

Skyler: He earned it gambling.

Skyler: We have the money.
Marie: How much money?
Skyler: Walt?
Walt: Well…it’s into seven figures.
Marie: Oh! Holy Mary mother of God.
Walt: What can I say? I did very well.

"Somehow, something tells me Hank is here because of you. And I’m not forgetting that."
- Skyler to Walt